1 Introduction

This page is dedicated to explaining how to install OpenFOAM in Ubuntu.

If you do not yet feel comfortable using Linux, then perhaps you better first read the page Working with the Shell and train a bit with the shell/terminal environments, so you can have a better perception of the steps shown below.

Contents

2Copy-Paste steps

Lines that start with # don't have to be copy-pasted. They are just comments to let you know what's going on.

One wrong character is enough for breaking this guide, so make sure you can read the characters properly or that the installed language system does not break the copied characters!

2.1 Ubuntu 12.04

Here you have at least two choices:

You can install the Deb packages, which provide a quick and easy way for having a working installation of OpenFOAM 2.3.0. This is the quickest solution for beginners and instructions are provided here: Download v2.3.0 | Ubuntu

Note: This last line means that whenever you start a new terminal window or tab, you should run the alias command associated to the OpenFOAM 2.3.0 shell environment. In other words, whenever you start a new terminal, you should run:

#this will take a while... somewhere between 30 minutes to 2 hours or more
./makeParaView4 -qmake $(which qmake-qt4) > log.makePV 2>&1#update the shell environment
wmSET $FOAM_SETTINGS

Once the makeParaView4 scripts is finished running, make sure to check the contents of the file log.makePV and check if there are any errors.

Now let's build OpenFOAM:
(Warning: this may take somewhere from 30 minutes to 6 hours, depending on your machine.)

#Go into OpenFOAM's main source foldercd$WM_PROJECT_DIR# This next command will take a while... somewhere between 30 minutes to 3-6 hours.
./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1#Run it a second time for getting a summary of the installation
./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1

Note: And keep in mind that you need to be careful with the letter case of the command. It's icoFoam, not icoFOAM.

If the previous command failed to work properly, then edit the file log.make and check if there are any error messages. A few examples on how you can edit this file:

By using kwrite:

kwrite log.make

By using gedit:

gedit log.make

By using nano:

nano log.make

You can then exit by using the key combination Ctrl+X and following any instructions it gives you.

Note: It's the first error message that matters.

If you don't understand the output, then please compress the log-file log.make and attach the compressed file to a post in the designated thread.
If you do not know how to create a compressed file, then try one of the following examples:

You can compress the file with gzip by running this command:

gzip < log.make > log.make.gz

Then attach the resulting package file named log.make.gz to a post in the designated thread.

Or you can compress one or more log-files into a tarball package file, by running this command:

tar -czf logs.tar.gz log.*

Then attach the resulting package file named logs.tar.gz to a post in the designated thread.

Reminder: Whenever you start a new terminal window or tab, you should run the alias command associated to the OpenFOAM 2.3.0 shell environment. In other words, run the following command whenever you start a new terminal:

2.2 Ubuntu 13.10

Here you have at least two choices:

You can install the Deb packages, which provide a quick and easy way for having a working installation of OpenFOAM 2.3.0. This is the quickest solution for beginners and instructions are provided here: Download v2.3.0 | Ubuntu

Note: This last line means that whenever you start a new terminal window or tab, you should run the alias command associated to the OpenFOAM 2.3.0 shell environment. In other words, whenever you start a new terminal, you should run:

Now let's build the ThirdParty folder, because we need the shell environment to be updated afterwards, for CGAL to be properly picked up for building OpenFOAM:

cd$WM_THIRD_PARTY_DIR# This next command will take a while... somewhere between 5 minutes to 30 minutes.
./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1#update the shell environment
wmSET $FOAM_SETTINGS

Now, in order to build ParaView 4.1.0 that comes with OpenFOAM:

#this will take a while... somewhere between 30 minutes to 2 hours or more
./makeParaView4 -qmake $(which qmake-qt4) > log.makePV 2>&1#update the shell environment
wmSET $FOAM_SETTINGS

Once the makeParaView4 scripts is finished running, make sure to check the contents of the file log.makePV and check if there are any errors.

Now let's build OpenFOAM:
(Warning: this may take somewhere from 30 minutes to 6 hours, depending on your machine.)

#Go into OpenFOAM's main source foldercd$WM_PROJECT_DIR# This next command will take a while... somewhere between 30 minutes to 3-6 hours.
./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1#Run it a second time for getting a summary of the installation
./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1

Note: And keep in mind that you need to be careful with the letter case of the command. It's icoFoam, not icoFOAM.

If the previous command failed to work properly, then edit the file log.make and check if there are any error messages. A few examples on how you can edit this file:

By using kwrite:

kwrite log.make

By using gedit:

gedit log.make

By using nano:

nano log.make

You can then exit by using the key combination Ctrl+X and following any instructions it gives you.

Note: It's the first error message that matters.

If you don't understand the output, then please compress the log-file log.make and attach the compressed file to a post in the designated thread.
If you do not know how to create a compressed file, then try one of the following examples:

You can compress the file with gzip by running this command:

gzip < log.make > log.make.gz

Then attach the resulting package file named log.make.gz to a post in the designated thread.

Or you can compress one or more log-files into a tarball package file, by running this command:

tar -czf logs.tar.gz log.*

Then attach the resulting package file named logs.tar.gz to a post in the designated thread.

Reminder: Whenever you start a new terminal window or tab, you should run the alias command associated to the OpenFOAM 2.3.0 shell environment. In other words, run the following command whenever you start a new terminal:

Note: This last line means that whenever you start a new terminal window or tab, you should run the alias command associated to the OpenFOAM 2.3.0 shell environment. In other words, whenever you start a new terminal, you should run:

Now let's build the ThirdParty folder, because we need the shell environment to be updated afterwards, for CGAL to be properly picked up for building OpenFOAM:

cd$WM_THIRD_PARTY_DIR#make very certain that the correct Qt version is being used, by running this command:exportQT_SELECT=qt4
# This next command will take a while... somewhere between 5 minutes to 30 minutes.
./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1#update the shell environment
wmSET $FOAM_SETTINGS

Now, in order to build ParaView 4.1.0 that comes with OpenFOAM:

#First make very certain that the correct Qt version is being used, by running this command:exportQT_SELECT=qt4
#this will take a while... somewhere between 30 minutes to 2 hours or more
./makeParaView4 > log.makePV 2>&1#update the shell environment
wmSET $FOAM_SETTINGS

Once the makeParaView4 scripts is finished running, make sure to check the contents of the file log.makePV and check if there are any errors.

Now let's build OpenFOAM:
(Warning: this may take somewhere from 30 minutes to 6 hours, depending on your machine.)

#Go into OpenFOAM's main source foldercd$WM_PROJECT_DIR#Still better be certain that the correct Qt version is being usedexportQT_SELECT=qt4
# This next command will take a while... somewhere between 30 minutes to 3-6 hours.
./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1#Run it a second time for getting a summary of the installation
./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1

Note: And keep in mind that you need to be careful with the letter case of the command. It's icoFoam, not icoFOAM.

If the previous command failed to work properly, then edit the file log.make and check if there are any error messages. A few examples on how you can edit this file:

By using kwrite:

kwrite log.make

By using gedit:

gedit log.make

By using nano:

nano log.make

You can then exit by using the key combination Ctrl+X and following any instructions it gives you.

Note: It's the first error message that matters.

If you don't understand the output, then please compress the log-file log.make and attach the compressed file to a post in the designated thread.
If you do not know how to create a compressed file, then try one of the following examples:

You can compress the file with gzip by running this command:

gzip < log.make > log.make.gz

Then attach the resulting package file named log.make.gz to a post in the designated thread.

Or you can compress one or more log-files into a tarball package file, by running this command:

tar -czf logs.tar.gz log.*

Then attach the resulting package file named logs.tar.gz to a post in the designated thread.

Reminder: Whenever you start a new terminal window or tab, you should run the alias command associated to the OpenFOAM 2.3.0 shell environment. In other words, run the following command whenever you start a new terminal:

Note: This last line means that whenever you start a new terminal window or tab, you should run the alias command associated to the OpenFOAM 2.3.0 shell environment. In other words, whenever you start a new terminal, you should run:

Now let's build the ThirdParty folder, because we need the shell environment to be updated afterwards, for CGAL to be properly picked up for building OpenFOAM:

cd$WM_THIRD_PARTY_DIR#make very certain that the correct Qt version is being used, by running this command:exportQT_SELECT=qt4
# This next command will take a while... somewhere between 5 minutes to 30 minutes.
./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1#update the shell environment
wmSET $FOAM_SETTINGS

Now, in order to build ParaView 4.1.0 that comes with OpenFOAM, including with the ability to use Python and MPI, several steps are needed:

First make very certain that the correct Qt version is being used, by running this command:

For building ParaView with Python and MPI, it depends on whether you have installed the i686 or x86_64 architecture of Ubuntu. To check this, run:

uname -m

Now, accordingly:

For i686:

#this will take a while... somewhere between 30 minutes to 2 hours or more
./makeParaView4 -python -mpi -python-lib /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libpython2.7.so.1.0 > log.makePV 2>&1

For x86_64:

#this will take a while... somewhere between 30 minutes to 2 hours or more
./makeParaView4 -python -mpi -python-lib /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpython2.7.so.1.0 > log.makePV 2>&1

Once the makeParaView4 script is finished running, make sure to check the contents of the file log.makePV and check if there are any errors.

Finally, update the shell environment:

wmSET $FOAM_SETTINGS

Now let's build OpenFOAM:
(Warning: this may take somewhere from 30 minutes to 6 hours, depending on your machine.)

#Go into OpenFOAM's main source foldercd$WM_PROJECT_DIR#Still better be certain that the correct Qt version is being usedexportQT_SELECT=qt4
# This next command will take a while... somewhere between 30 minutes to 3-6 hours.
./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1#Run it a second time for getting a summary of the installation
./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1

Note: And keep in mind that you need to be careful with the letter case of the command. It's icoFoam, not icoFOAM.

If the previous command failed to work properly, then edit the file log.make and check if there are any error messages. A few examples on how you can edit this file:

By using kwrite:

kwrite log.make

By using gedit:

gedit log.make

By using nano:

nano log.make

You can then exit by using the key combination Ctrl+X and following any instructions it gives you.

Note: It's the first error message that matters.

If you don't understand the output, then please compress the log-file log.make and attach the compressed file to a post in the designated thread.
If you do not know how to create a compressed file, then try one of the following examples:

You can compress the file with gzip by running this command:

gzip < log.make > log.make.gz

Then attach the resulting package file named log.make.gz to a post in the designated thread.

Or you can compress one or more log-files into a tarball package file, by running this command:

tar -czf logs.tar.gz log.*

Then attach the resulting package file named logs.tar.gz to a post in the designated thread.

Reminder: Whenever you start a new terminal window or tab, you should run the alias command associated to the OpenFOAM 2.3.0 shell environment. In other words, run the following command whenever you start a new terminal:

Note: This last line means that whenever you start a new terminal window or tab, you should run the alias command associated to the OpenFOAM 2.3.0 shell environment. In other words, whenever you start a new terminal, you should run:

Now let's build OpenFOAM:
(Warning: this may take somewhere from 30 minutes to 6 hours, depending on your machine.)

#Go into OpenFOAM's main source foldercd$WM_PROJECT_DIR#Still better be certain that the correct Qt version is being usedexportQT_SELECT=qt4
# This next command will take a while... somewhere between 30 minutes to 3-6 hours.
./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1#Run it a second time for getting a summary of the installation
./Allwmake > log.make 2>&1

Note: And keep in mind that you need to be careful with the letter case of the command. It's icoFoam, not icoFOAM.

If the previous command failed to work properly, then edit the file log.make and check if there are any error messages. A few examples on how you can edit this file:

By using kwrite:

kwrite log.make

By using gedit:

gedit log.make

By using nano:

nano log.make

You can then exit by using the key combination Ctrl+X and following any instructions it gives you.

Note: It's the first error message that matters.

If you don't understand the output, then please compress the log-file log.make and attach the compressed file to a post in the designated thread.
If you do not know how to create a compressed file, then try one of the following examples:

You can compress the file with gzip by running this command:

gzip < log.make > log.make.gz

Then attach the resulting package file named log.make.gz to a post in the designated thread.

Or you can compress one or more log-files into a tarball package file, by running this command:

tar -czf logs.tar.gz log.*

Then attach the resulting package file named logs.tar.gz to a post in the designated thread.

Reminder: Whenever you start a new terminal window or tab, you should run the alias command associated to the OpenFOAM 2.3.0 shell environment. In other words, run the following command whenever you start a new terminal:

2.6 Ubuntu 18.04

Or try following instead the instructions for installing OpenFOAM 2.3.1 on Ubuntu 18.04 on that wiki page, but replace any mentions to 2.3.1 and with 2.3.0. If you are successful, please tell us about it on the discussion thread associated to those instructions.